Kennedy Shines As Greenwood’s H-Back

“He’s become our H-back,” Greenwood head coach Rick Jones said. “Ironically, his name is Houston and we call it the H-back.”

Ever since Jones took over in 2004, the Bulldogs have been a traditional Spread formation team. Normally, two receivers line up on each side and the running back is next to the quarterback. This year, however, Greenwood changed it up a little, moving a blocking back up behind the tackle for its power running formation.

“Against Southside, obviously, we had a great game running the ball, and he was a big part of that,” Jones said. “It’s blossomed into something we do. We just do it based on how the game is going. We may do it a lot or we may not do it as much. He was a perfect fit for that H-back spot.”

In the 45-21 win against Southside, Greenwood pounded out a season-high 322 yards on the ground. Kennedy was used as a blocking back, like a fullback leading the way for the first time.

“I was always the power quarterback and I did that some at the beginning of the year, running over people,” Kennedy said. “They moved me to fullback and they told me they were putting that formation in, and I got a big smile on my face. I love it.”

Kennedy went through spring, summer and preseason practices battling junior Jabe Burgess for the starting quarterback position. Kennedy, though, has suffered from a sore throwing arm from time to time. Kennedy is also a pitcher for the Greenwood baseball team.

“He had had trouble before. About a week and a half into fall camp, I knew something wasn’t right,” Jones said. “He just got a sore arm. When his arm gets sore, his mechanics get flawed, and he struggles. He’s tough as he can be. He will not complain about anything. I think his arm has felt like a string sometimes. He pitches in baseball, and that’s been an issue.”

Of course, high school baseball season is followed by two weeks of spring football.

“It happened during spring football; it’s happened a lot, all three years coming out of baseball, it’s already wore out and then we’re throwing a football right after that,” Kennedy said. “We base our offense out of throwing the ball. I accepted it. Jabe is doing a great job. I have a fullback role and I love it.”

Kennedy and Burgess took snaps at quarterback during three nonconference games before Burgess took over the primary role at quarterback.

“The thing that tilted it was that Houston’s arm got sore,” Jones said. “In terms of making the decisions, we kept statistics on every one of their throws all through springs practice. It was a small edge to Jabe. We kept statistics through the first part of fall practice, and it was close. We didn’t pick a starter, the starter was picked because of circumstances.

“Sometimes, that’s the way it works. A big part of it goes back to him. When kids are dealt a blow, they can handle it one of two ways; they can look at what’s best for the team or they can be selfish. Thank goodness, he had the right attitude.”

Kennedy plans on playing college baseball, but knew he could help the football team in other ways. At 6-1, 206 pounds, he became the short-yardage quarterback in the mold of the Wildcat formation.

Even that role changed dramatically with the new formation with the position called H-back, fullback and even sniffer back. He also lines up in the backfield in the popular Diamond formation with two running backs in the Spread.

“The question was who to put in there because our backs are more geared toward pass blocking,” Jones said. “They never run block in our system. As we went through the process, we knew we were going to do more two-back stuff because of our personnel. He was the perfect choice.”

Kennedy is also a pass-catching threat out of the backfield, usually from the H-back formation.

“He’s made some great catches,” Jones said. “He’s been a threat catching the ball out of the backfield.”

Kennedy has only caught five passes for 34 yards but for three touchdowns. He’s completed 29 of 45 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns. He ran 54 times for 208 yards and two more touchdowns.

“It’s a blast,” Kennedy said “How many people get to do all of that stuff?”